Our Carli is a Blessing - A Gift From Heaven Above

A WEE BIT OF HEAVEN DRIFTED DOWN FROM ABOVE

YOU LIGHT UP THE WORLD WITH YOUR SWEET BABY CHARMS

Wednesday, July 27, 2016

One of our goals this summer was to participate in the Library Summer Reading program. While we didn't make every single one of the meetings, we did do all the reading plus some. Wednesday was the last session and the girls got their prizes, certificates and even won a couple of tickets to the movies!

They enjoyed getting to meet a Great Dane during show and tell. Drew especially was enthralled with the big dog and made a run for it all by himself to get close to the dog! Carli finally took him up to pet the dog. Drew was thrilled!

Carli LOVES to read and I didn't have many problems getting her to read every day. Ava grew by leaps and bounds this summer. She would read but I had to make sure she read to someone, otherwise she would just "guess" the story instead of trying to read it! She even brought her library books to read to Grammy and Pa!

Tuesday, July 26, 2016

Grammy, Pa and Uncle Tone came over for dinner the other night. Pa was bringing us some chicken manure for the yard, the girls were anxious to love on Grammy and Uncle Tone was a bachelor for the week - so it worked out well! :) After dinner the girls convinced everyone to play a quick game of ball before they all headed back home!

Monday, July 25, 2016

Sunday, July 24, 2016

As part of our Super Summer Challenge, the girls can earn extra coins by doing different tasks. One of those tasks was to complete a wood working project with their Daddy. Ava decided she wanted to make Kit a new bed and desk. While she picked a complicated project, I'll give her credit that she did not once leave her Daddy's side. It took them two days to build Kit's bed - all that is left is to stain it and put together the bedding.

Wednesday, July 20, 2016

Ava insisted that I take her picture with her American Girl doll Kit. She has really enjoyed playing with Kit this summer and has surprised me by actually taking care of her! I was a little weary when she asked for her for Christmas. Aunt Megan would be glad to know that Kit has gotten lots of attention and care this summer! :)

Monday, July 18, 2016

I needed to take something back to the store to be returned and decided it'd be a perfect time to take Carli with me. After spending lots of time with her sister and having to say good-bye to Naggy and Pappy, Carli was in need of just some alone time. We stopped by the store then we had to get some ice cream before we could come back home!

Sunday, July 17, 2016

We left to come home on Sunday and left the girls with Naggy and Pappy for a fun filled week of spoiling. They swam almost every day, had fun lunch dates, made cute culinary creations in the kitchen and watched a movie every night. They thoroughly enjoyed the week of getting spoiled with Naggy and Pappy!

Monday Grammy had her knee replacement surgery and the girls sent her pictures to let her know they were thinking of her...

They made some yummy watermelon shaped rice crispies to share with their swimming buddies and later enjoyed popcorn with all the stuffed animals while enjoying a movie!

Thursday they packed up to head to east Texas. There is a really cool roadside park that the girls love to stop at, so Naggy packed a sack lunch and they had a picnic!

Thursday night they stopped in Rockwall so the girls could have a sleepover with their cousin Isabella. Friday morning they had a cute tea party complete with décor and hats!

Naggy and Pappy work so hard at making the girls stay fun and memorable and the succeed every year! We are so blessed!

Saturday, July 16, 2016

I thought Drew would really enjoy being an only child. It turns out he was not a big fan. He screamed half way home from the airport. Either he used all his good behavior on the plane, he was extremely tired or bored b/c the sisters weren't in the back seat to keep him entertained.

Monday morning Grammy had her knee replacement surgery, so Drew and I headed up to the hospital to spend some time with her. He was not about to go see ANYONE and clung to me like a magnet. I chalked it up to fatigue and out of his element. We went and had lunch with Daddy while Grammy took a nap.

Meanwhile Grammy did really great with her surgery and they had her up walking that afternoon.

Tuesday, Aunt Carolyn and Uncle Johnny spent the morning with Grammy. I had hoped that being at home a bit with calm Drew down and hopefully he'd get in a good nap. But not so much. He was pretty mad about the car situation still too. So we threw our hands in the air and went to spend the afternoon with Grammy.

Keith came by after work to pick him up. Wouldn't you know, he slept for Keith in the truck and after they got home. :/

I picked up pizza for dinner on the way home and it turns out Carli's new bat was waiting for us all. Drew opened it up for her and sent her this picture. :)

Grammy got to come home on Wednesday. Drew and I spent the day at home too. We almost did not go to church b/c he was so amazingly cranky but sucked it up. He surprised us all by going to class with no tears. He even hammed it up for a picture to send to sisters at dinner!

But we had a long night and he definitely was not himself. We went to spend the day with Grammy on Thursday. I had hoped to do somethings for her but Drew was having none of that. So I held him and just visited with Grammy and Pa. Having a clingy baby has it's perks! ;)

Friday Kayla came to watch Drew so I could get some work done. He did pretty good for her and was pretty happy when Naggy and Pappy showed up with his sisters that afternoon. I finally decided he had a mixture of teething, separation anxiety and maybe a little allergies thrown in there too. None the less, it was determined that Drew was not a fan of his sisters being gone and has become a non-fan of the carseat once more!

Tuesday, July 12, 2016

The second half of our trip to Amarillo was spent catching up with friends and family. Friday morning we met my good friend Stephanie and her three little boys at an indoor playplace at one of the local churches. Go figure, I didn't take hardly any pictures but that just means we were too busy enjoying a good conversation to worry with such!

The kids literally played all morning! We went back to Naggy and Pappy's for lunch and a little relaxing. Ava showed off her reading skills and then it was time to swim again, Drew and I opted for a good nap this time around!

Friday night, Keith and I ventured out on a date to Saltgrass. This is the restaurant we ate at on the night of our wedding. While we were enjoying a night out with no kids, Naggy and Pappy were having a movie/pizza night with the kids!

Saturday morning we were up and ready for more company! Aunt Megan and Uncle Kevin were coming! The kids were pretty pumped to get to see them!

We had a late lunch b/c Aunt Sarah, Uncle Robert, Brian, McKenzie and Reed were coming through town on their way home from vacation. It was perfect timing for a pit stop for them and to get to catch up before they all had to hit the road again.

Reed is about 5 months older than Drew. He and Drew are about the exact opposites when it comes to size and mobility! Ha! Sweet boys!

After our visit and extended family getting back on the road, the girls, Megan and I enjoyed an awesome pedicure together. Naggy and Pappy had a wedding to go to so Naggy begged off so she could get ready. The boys took a few generational pictures. Drew was pretty excited about that! :)

Then it was nap time for Drew. Turns out Uncles are as awesome to sleep on as Pappys are! :)

Naggy and Pappy went to a wedding Saturday night. We enjoyed a dinner out with Uncle Kevin and Aunt Megan. Church on Sunday and a good nap before Keith, Drew and I headed home and left the girls to spend some more time with Naggy and Pappy.

Drew had a grand time on the plane. It was a bit fuller this time around but that just kept him entertained flirting with all the ladies and playing peek a boo over the seat the with family behind us. :)

Monday, July 11, 2016

Drew made his first trip to Amarillo last week. We opted to fly again and this was Drew's first flight as well. Everything went great. We did not have a full flight and were able to take up two rows and have no one around us. Drew did not fuss at all and thought that the shutters for the windows were just grand!

We got to Amarillo just after lunch. Naggy and Pappy work really hard to make traveling to see them easier. They had gathered up car seats for all the kids and hauled us around in two cars all week.! We are so thankful for their efforts! We went to our most favorite restaurant for a late lunch - Rosa's. Drew was properly appreciative of it's awesomeness!

The girls wasted no time settling in and it wasn't long before we were at Mrs. Jeri's cooling off in her awesome pool!

Drew was not nearly as excited about swimming as the girls and "Jack Jack" made a brief re-appearance!

It took a lot of loving and reassurance but as long as his face did not get wet, Drew decided the pool was okay. He may have held on really tight to Momma the whole time too! :)

Our second day in Amarillo started off with the traditional yummy breakfast of Naggy's cinnamon rolls! Drew was a fan! :)

Then it was off to go see Grandpa Herb. This was Drew's first time to meet his Great-grandpa. He was actually pretty social. Grandpa was pretty impressed with how "big" Drew was. :) We had a good visit and enjoyed getting to see Grandpa for a bit.

After lunch at another favorite, Buns of Texas and a bit of shopping for Drew a new church bag, we had a little birthday celebration for Drew at a cute cupcake place. It was yummy!

It was long past nap time for Drew and the girls wanted to go swimming again. So the boys all took naps and the girls went to the pool!

While Naggy was putting together dinner, Keith and the girls with the help of Drew got out his old legos to work on building a ship. I think Drew thought the main objective was to take apart every lego that was put together!

Then it was time for some more fun at the park just down the road from Naggy and Pappy's. Drew was a bigger fan of the park than he was of the swimming pool! :)